Post-game notes, quotes

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTESNovember 26, 2011 (Game 20, Home Game 8)Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

Team Notes:

– The Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, today at Madison Square Garden to extend their home winning streak to six games, and have now won their last two contests overall.

– New York improved to 12-5-3 (27 pts) on the season, including a 6-1-1 record at home.

– The Blueshirts have out-scored their opponents, 22-7, during their current six-game home winning streak, having held the opposition to one goal or less in four of the six games. The Rangers are 5-29 (17.2%) on the power play during the home winning streak, while surrendering just one goal against in 15 shorthanded situations (93.3%) over the span.

– The Rangers’ 6-1-1 start through eight games at Madison Square Garden is their best start at home since they posted a record of 6-1-1 through eight home games to begin the 1992-93 season. New York began that season with a 7-1-1 mark though nine games at MSG.

– The Rangers have won their last three games against the Flyers, out-scoring Philadelphia, 12-2, in those contests. New York has now shutout Philadelphia in each of their last two meetings at Madison Square Garden.

– With today’s win, New York completed a sweep of their back-to-back set, having defeated Washington, 6-3, yesterday at Verizon Center. The Rangers improved to 2-0-1 in the second game of back-to-backs, including a 2-0-0 mark when the game is played at home. Since 2009-10, New York is 23-8-3 in the back-end of back-to-back sets, including an 11-3-1 mark at MSG.

– The Rangers improved to 7-0-1 when leading after the second period, and are 11-1-0 when tallying the game’s first goal. Their 11 wins when scoring first are the most in the NHL, while their .917 winning percentage ranks second.

– The Blueshirts out-shot the Flyers in the contest, 32-29, and remain the only team in the NHL who are undefeated when out-shooting their opponent (6-0-0).

– New York now leads the league in goals against average, allowing just 2.05 goals against per contest, and have surrendered the fewest total goals on the season (41).

– The Rangers are now four wins shy of 2,500 wins, having won 2,496 games all-time in franchise history.

Player Notes:

– Henrik Lundqvist turned aside all 29 shots he faced to post his second shutout of the season, and improve to 9-4-3 on the season with a 4-1-1 mark at home. The shutout was his 40th career overall, with 37 coming in the regular season and three during the playoffs. He has now started on consecutive days 56 times in his career, and improved to 35-14-7 with a 1.82 goals against average, .935 save percentage and six shutouts in the second game. Lundqvist is 7-1-0 with a 1.74 goals against average, .942 save percentage and one shutout during the month of November.

– Brad Richards opened the game’s scoring with a power play goal 0:54 into the second period, and logged 20:56 of ice time to earn second star honors. He has registered 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in the last 12 games, including six points (four goals, two assists) in the last six. Richards is now tied for second on the team with eight goals on the season.

– Carl Hagelin notched his first career NHL goal with an even strength tally at 5:06 of the third period while making his Madison Square Garden debut. Hagelin, who recorded an assist in his NHL debut yesterday at Washington, also registered three shots on goal in 10:55 of ice time.

– Michael Del Zotto tallied a power play assist, led the team with four shots on goal, and was credited with four blocked shots and a game-high, five hits, in 21:27 of ice time. He now ranks second on the team in power play assists (four) and is tied for third in power play points (four) on the season.

– Dan Girardi recorded the primary assist on Richards’ power play goal, and was credited with two hits and two blocked shots in a team-high, 27:26 of ice time. He has registered 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the last 14 games, including three assists in the last two, and is now five assists shy of 100 NHL career. Girardi leads the team in power play assists (five) and power play points (six).

– Ryan McDonagh tallied the primary assist on Hagelin’s third period goal and led all skaters with a career-high, six blocked shots in 24:39 of ice time. He has now registered an assist in each of the last three games, and has recorded five assists and a plus-11 rating in the last nine games.

– John Mitchell registered an assist in 11:51 of ice time while making his Madison Square Garden debut as a Ranger, and completed the Blueshirts’ back-to-back set with two assists following his recall from Connecticut (AHL) on Thursday.

– Brandon Prust, who captured third star honors, was assessed two fighting majors in the first period, including one 0:04 into the contest. The Rangers are now 9-2-0 when Prust is assessed a fighting major in the game’s opening five minutes since he joined the team on February 2, 2010.

Post-Game Quotes:

– John Tortorella on Carl Hagelin…

“You always get that juice when you come (up from Hartford). I think Ken Gernander and that group down there with the minor league team deserves a lot of credit because he’s not only fast, but he’s playing smart also. Both him and Mitch [John Mitchell], they’ve added to us right away these first two games.”

– Henrik Lundqvist on today’s game…

“I think we played with a lot of confidence and we made it really tough for them to create chances. They had a couple in the first and in the second, I feel like we really shut them down. We did a really good job and I think we carried over the confidence from last night.”

– Carl Hagelin on his first career goal…

“To be able to do that here, at MSG is pretty amazing. There’s such a great crowd here and they really love their team. They’re probably the best fans in the world.”

just wanted to mention to yous guys- A couple guys at the game today were actually wearing the winter classic jerseys. How that’s possible I have no idea but they look pretty nice. They’re a cream color with the old school Rangers crest on the front im sure you’ve seen them online by now

James G – Funny! I saw that and thought the same thing. If those are the actual jerseys, they are pretty. I don’t know why maybe because they’ve been winning with them but I’m kinda digging the heritage jersey. Maybe they could’ve incorporated those somehow.

I knew getting his degree was important to Kreider He said he doesn’t want finishing school hanging over his head once he turned pro. I didn’t realize he took an accelerated course load over the summer. I guess he might be on track to graduate this spring or summer.

“The King hasn’t held the throne too well in the playoffs. That’s the scouting report on him around the League. He doesn’t get it done when it counts.”

Don’t know how much of the scouts’ opinions you share, HW, but I really don’t understand this.

As ilb mentioned, you can debate whether the Olympic gold is comparable to a Cup win, but if the implication is that he underperforms/chokes or doesn’t have the mental strength to play well “when it counts”, is that (and was it one or two playoff titles in Sweden?) not evidence enough?

The whole notion that a goalie (or any player) just isn’t a “winner” if he hasn’t led a mostly low seeded team to a deep playoff run is one that I struggle with.

Secondly, if you’re just going off numbers, rather than what are presumably subjective scouting reports, I can’t see there’s overwhelming evidence there either.

Which sample size is a more reliable indicator of a player’s ability? The 420+ regular season games or the 35 playoff games? Doesn’t take much at all over that few games to hurt his numbers.

For example, if you exclude the three games in the sweep against the Devils in his rookie year (in which he was only established as the starter halfway through the year and clearly faded after the Olympics), his playoff numbers are 2.43/.915. Which is not a million miles away from his career regular season numbers of 2.31/.919.

Or alternatively, do the improved playoff numbers of Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton, plus their proven ability to win Conference Final and Cup Final games, mean they are better at getting it done when it counts?